Burial Ground-And There Shall Be Nights of Terror
(Self-Released, 2007)

After a sample from the film that the band took their name, Burial Ground kick off the demo with Child-Menu, a catchy and dissonant slab of metal that shows the band going for a more mid-tempo approach similar in nature to Necrophagia. It's a dirty and raw form of death metal and much more appealing to me than the uber-technical style of death metal so common these days. This is rough and disgusting, the way death metal was originally meant to be.

A sample from Evil Dead 2 follows, and then we are treated to Possessed Hand Dismemberment. The song continues to be raw and dissonant but also brings in a bit more speed. The raw feel of the riffing matches the horrific element of the band perfectly. It's simple and to the point, but still very catchy. There are some excellent tremolo picked riffs used as well and the simple power chord riffs are ridiculously powerful in their simplicity. Make Them Die Slowly follows and is probably my favorite song on this demo. It has an awesome old school feel that sounds a bit more like Impetigo. The riffs in this song are incredibly memorable and if you needed an example of why this band deserves your attention this is definitely the song to show why.

The last song on the demo, Stacy, shows the band throwing in just a touch of melody to great effect. It is similar to the Necrophagia influenced style of the bands previous songs, but the melody is much less dissonant and has a dark and haunting feel in this song. The vocals are of course still course and vile and it creates wonderful tension during this song. The band has told me this is their flagship song and it is quite easy to see why. It is a memorable yet horrific song that shows that the band certainly has the chops to sit right before the best of the genre.

With little patience I will be waiting for this band to release a full length album. If you are a fan of Necrophagia, Impetigo or horror movies, Burial Ground is a band that will have you head banging in no time. This Belgian band may just be the future of horror themed metal.

http://www.myspace.com/burialground666

Decrepitaph-Ancient Death Metal Promo
(Self-Released, 2007)

Like a blast of stale air creeping out of a freshly exhumed coffin, Decrepitaph play dark and blistering old school death metal that exhumes a sound that shows why death metal was so powerful in its infancy. Taking a thrash base and adding sinister note choices and guttural vocal roars, the band has a sound that hits somewhere in between Incantation, Massacre, and Carnage. It's a dark and violent style of death metal that explores both rhythmic ideas as well as doom based simplicity.

What I really like about the band is the fact that they don't bring in any new influences whatsoever. This literally could have been released in 1991 and this band would have been huge. With death metal becoming a speed competition or a parody of itself, a band like Decrepitaph shows why the genre has always been so powerful. This is like hearing Onward to Golgotha, Dark Recollections, or From Beyond for the first time. If you don't know who released those albums this might not be for you. Its violent, fresh and quite old school. How can something be fresh and old school at the same time you ask? Well, after being bombarded with what death metal has become a band like this does sound fresh to my ears.

I like the fact that the band also stays away from blasting. It has just become so overdone these days. It fits certain bands but it just wouldn't fit the feel of this band. There are indeed fast moments, but they are more thrash styled in nature. Granted some of these thrash beats are played ridiculously fast, but it isn't quite a blast beat, at least not the modern version of the blast beat. The overall feel of the drumming is very straight forward and stripped down. It serves the song first and is never self indulgent. Im not sure when metal drumming went from being charging and energetic to masturbatory, but this is powerful drumming done right.

With dark riffs, powerful vocal roars, and straight forward drumming Decrepitaph channels the death metal masters and creates a sound that is sure to please all fans of true death metal. The band recently signed with Razorback Records and it is a perfect match. I highly recommend that all fans of old school death metal check this band out immediately!

http://www.myspace.com/decrepitaph